Structural composite glulam-steel rig mat

ABSTRACT

A Structural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat includes a unique steel frame. The unique steel frame includes unique lifting eyes for cranes in the corners of the rig mat and smooth radius steel channel around the perimeter of the rig mat to enable easy handling by forklifts. The unique steel frame surrounds unique full length, engineered glulam beams which together with the steel frame make the resulting rig mat significantly stronger than the traditional rig mat.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/340,896, the disclosure of whichis hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, and furthermoreclaims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/336,006, the disclosure of which is also herebyexpressly incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rig mat, or in another terminology, aground cover mat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Rig Mats have been manufactured for the oil and gas industry and otherindustries for many years. They have been made from various sizes andshapes of wide flange beams, steel channel and/or steel formed channelthat forms a frame in and around various arrays of timbers or of boardsglued and sometimes glued and nailed together, often with lateral rodsor top and bottom straps fastened through the boards to help keep themin place.

Provisional Patent Application No. 61/336,006 filed on Jan. 13, 2010describes a Combination of Elements that makes up a PortableRefrigerated Rig Mat System for which I, Michael Chris Wold, am theInventor and the applicant. One of the Sub Elements of this Combinationof Elements is the Protective Hybrid Steel-Glulam Rig Mat which isdescribed in the same application No. 61/336,006. There is now animprovement that should be made to the basic design of the previouslydescribed Protective Hybrid Steel-Glulam Rig Mat, described in saidProvisional Patent Application No. 61/336,006 that approximately doublesthe Load Capacity (E-I) of the mat. The new improved design is describedin this new application for a Provisional patent and is named theStructural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat. The design change thatprovides for the doubling of the capacity of the mat is manufacturingand incorporating full length certified glulams to allow the glulambeams to work in unison with the longitudinal steel beams. In most otherdesigns of ground cover mats, and especially rig mats, the mats havebeen manufactured with transverse beams running across the interior ofthe mat, usually dividing the rig mat into three or four sections, whicheffectively segments the wooden boards and do not allow the wooden boardcomponent to run the full length of the rig mats without breaks.Therefore, the wooden boards cannot contribute to the overall LoadCapacity of the rig mat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A much stronger invention is to design and manufacture rig mats byinserting full length engineered and certified glue-laminated woodenbeams between the flanges of the longitudinal steel beams or rails. Forthe rest of this document the term Rail refers to the steel Wide FlangeBeams and steel Formed Channel Beams in the rig mat to clearlydistinguish them from the wooden Glulam Beam elements of the same rigmat. This new design incorporates steel beams and wood beams in the samestructure and therefore it requires a new method of describing rig mats.In the field of oil and gas related rig mats, it is customary toidentify and describe a rig mat by how many longitudinal steel beams itcontains running down its length. Thus, most of the rig mats inexistence today are “Three Beam” rig mats or “Four Beam” rig mats, theThree Beam rig mat being the less expensive and weaker of the twooptions. In the current invention however, for the first time there aretwo kinds of engineered, certified beams in the rig mat, the steel beamsand the wood beams. Therefore, I have adopted a nomenclature system thatfirst calls out how many steel beams are in the rig mat by usinglanguage such as 3Rail or 4Rail. A 3Rail designation denotes 3 steellongitudinal beams are in this rig mat. The second part of the namedenotes how many longitudinal glulam beams are in the rig mat. Anexample would be a 4Rail-3 Beam Rig Mat, meaning there are 4 steellongitudinal beams and 3 wooden glulam longitudinal beams in this rigmat. The simplest Structural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat isdesignated a 2Rail-1Beam Rig Mat, meaning it is comprised of one largeglulam longitudinal beam which is contained by two steel longitudinalbeams running down the sides, as well as the Lateral End Rails on theends. Thus, a 3Rail-2Beam mat has two glulams contained by three steelbeams and a 5Rail-4Beam rig mat has five steel beams running the lengthof the mat containing four glulam beams. Henceforth, in this documentthe term Rail refers to Steel Longitudinal Beams and the term Beamrefers to the certified wood glulam longitudinal beams.

It is unique that this invention incorporates engineered glue-laminatedwooden beams (see FIG. 1-#1,#2) that can be constructed with differentspecies of Western Softwoods, or other hardwoods, and are manufacturedto ANSI-AITC A190.1 standards or another certifiable standard. This is aunique design in this field of inventions. Load bearing ratings forthese engineered glulam beams are approximately 50% higher than thetraditional method of rig mat wood inserts described above, and overallLoad Capacity is increased by approximately 100% by using full lengthglulam beams rather than the compartmentalized wood inserts typicallyused in the industry.

A second unique design element of this Structural Composite Glulam-SteelRig Mat is the incorporation of pre-manufactured Corner Inserts(#3) (SeeFIG. 1-#3; FIG. 2 & FIG. 3) that incorporate top and side Lifting Slots(See FIG. 2-#4,#5 & FIG. 3-#4,#5). This design keeps the Lifting Slotsaway from the center structure of the rig mat where they can compromisethe overall structural integrity of the rig mat. Because of the modulardesign of this rig mat different sizes of rig mats can easily bemanufactured by variations in the length of the steel rails connectingthe Corner Inserts(#3) together. The modular Corner Inserts(#3) can bemanufactured in advance and separately from the remaining rails andbeams of the rig mat. However, if a certain size of rig mat isdominating the production line it is more efficient to cut the outsiderails to length by a mitered cut and fit the rails together in the verycorners of the rig mat. In this instance the corner plates areprefabricated with holes, the inside edges are beveled and the platesare welded flush with the top of the outside rails.

A third unique design element of this Structural Composite Glulam-SteelRig Mat, because of its modular design, is the ability to change thepurpose of the rig mat by interchanging the Lateral End Rails (See FIG.4-#11) on the ends of the rig mat, normally manufactured as formedchannel Rails in this invention, for a Modular Oilfield Loading Hitch,(See FIG. 5). The Modular Oilfield Loading Hitch is made starting with aWide Flange Rail (See FIG. 5-#6) incorporating a Heavy Walled Pipe(#7)with End Caps(#8) and Pipe Softeners(#9) on each of the upper outsideedges of the Wide Flange Beam Frame, thus forming a Modular OilfieldLoading Hitch (See FIG. 4-#10; FIG. 5). The Modular Oilfield LoadingHitch will allow the rig mat to be handled by a winch truck orbedtandem, in addition to forklifts and cranes, which is sometimes adesign requirement for the efficient handling of rig mats in some remotelocations. See FIG. 5.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, looking from above, of aStructural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, looking from above and from outside, of aCorner Insert with Lifting Slots, which is a part of the rig mat of FIG.12.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, looking from above and from inside, of aCorner Insert with Lifting Slots, which is a part of the rig mat of FIG.12.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, looking from above, showing theinterchangability of the Lateral End Rails of the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, looking from above, of the interchangeableModular Oilfield Loading Hitch, which is a part of the rig mat of FIG.13.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, looking from the side, of theinterchangeable Modular Oilfield Loading Hitch, which is a part of therig mat of FIG. 13.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view, looking from above, of the firststage of assembling the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 8 is a perspective vies, looking from above, of the installation ofthe outside glulam beams in the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view, looking from above, of the installation ofthe Corner Inserts with Lifting Slots in the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view, looking from above, of the installationof the Longitudinal Side Rails in the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 11 is a plan view, looking from above, of the installation of theFork Protection Plates in the rig mat of FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view, looking from above, of the finishedStructural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat with standard ends.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view, looking from above, of the finishedStructural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat with the optional ModularOilfield Loading Hitch.

DESCRIPTION OF MANUFACTURE

A 4Rail-3Beam Rig Mat (See FIG. 1) is used for the Description ofManufacture in this application: The Structural Composite Glulam-SteelRig Mat is illustrated exploded beginning with FIG. 1. The rig mat outerframe, in this embodiment, is made with formed channel steel beams,running lengthwise as the two Longitudinal Side Rails (#12) and the twoLateral End Rails (#11) running crossways at each end of the rig mat.These four outer frame rails are connected at the four corners of therig mat with the four Corner Inserts (#3). The two Longitudinal InternalRails (#13) are connected to the Lateral End Rails (#11). The twelvesteel Fork Protection Plates (#14) welded between all four of thelongitudinal rails on both faces of the rig mat complete the structuralsteel frame of the rig mat.

The three Certified Glulam Beams manufactured to ANSI-AITC A190.1standards (FIG. 1-#1, #2) are manufactured by certified laminated beammanufacturers in the northwestern United States. The glulam beams arethen shaped in our woodshop with the proper kerfed edges and dadoedsurfaces to precisely fit the structural steel frame.

The first stage of assembling the rig mat, shown in FIG. 7, is toassemble the Longitudinal Internal Rails(#13) to the Lateral EndRails(#11) with the center glulam(#1), boxed in the center section (ifthe rig mat is to have more than two Glulam Beams).

To install the glulam beams(#1 & #2) into the rig mat frames, the bestmethod is employ a horizontal, table height jig; lay out the firstLongitudinal Internal Rail(#13) in the proper position to accept the twoLateral End Rails (#11). Weld the two Lateral End Rails(#11) in place tothis Internal Wide Flange Rail(#13) and then insert the Center GlulamBeam(#1) into the u-shaped slot formed by the 3 Rails.

Next install the second Longitudinal Internal Rail(#13), which boxes inthe Center Glulam Beam(#1) and weld them in place. This creates the“backbone” of the rig mat. While the backbone is still in place in thejig, illustrated in FIG. 8, install each of the two mitered OutsideGlulam Beams(#2) into the short slots formed inside the protruding endsof the two Lateral End Rails(#11).

Next, illustrated in FIG. 9, install the four Corner Inserts(#3) ontothe outside ends of the Lateral Cross Rails(#11) and weld them in place.If it happens that most of the production in the shop is mostly of onesize and specifications, then it can be more efficient to not utilizethe modular corners, but rather miter cut the two ends and the two sidesto the full length of the rig mat and to flush weld the corner plateswith lifting eyes into the finished frame.

Finally, illustrated in FIG. 10, install the outside Longitudinal SideRails(#12) into the space created inside the Corner Inserts(#3) and weldthem in place. This operation has essentially assembled the mainstructural components of the rig mat and it is now ready for finishwelding.

Finally the installation of the Fork Protection Plates(#14) on bothsides of the rig mat completes the manufacturing process.

FIG. 12 illustrates the finished Structural Composite Glulam-Steel RigMat in a 4Rail-3Beam Rig Mat configured to be handled by cranes andforklifts manufactured with the standard Lateral End Rails(#11).

FIG. 13 illustrates the finished Structural Composite Glulam-Steel RigMat in a 4Rail-3Beam Rig Mat configured to be handled by cranes,forklifts and oilfield Bedtandems, Pole Trucks and Winch Trucksmanufactured with the Modular Oilfield Loading Hitch(#10).

1. A Structural Composite Glulam-Steel Rig Mat capable of carrying aload and comprising: a. A unique steel frame b. Full length wood glulambeams c. Is constructed in a modular design
 2. The mat of claim 1wherein said steel frame incorporates a. unique lifting eyes for cranesand other lifting equipment in the corners of the rig mat b. wideforklift protection plates that are inset flush with the horizontalsurface of the rig mat frame and with the surface of the glulam woodbeams c. incorporates steel channeled beams for the perimeter of the rigmat with smooth radius corners to enable easy handling by forklifts andother lifting machinery
 3. The mat of claim 1 wherein said glulam beamsa. are full length beams and span the long length of the rig mat b. areengineered and certifiable wooden glulam beams c. and are unique in thisindustry and have never been employed in the construction of steelframed rig mats.
 4. The mat of claim 1 is constructed in a modulardesign a. and this unique modular design enables an efficientmanufacturing process b. the modular design creates the ability tochange the character of the rig mat by interchanging the lateral endrails between smooth end rails or the modular oilfield loading hitch.